Prof. Keren Weinshall joins researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Oslo in a six-year collaboration examining 48 supreme and constitutional courts.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem proudly announces that Prof. Keren Weinshall of its Faculty of Law, together with three international research partners, has been selected to receive a European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant, one of the Council’s most prestigious and competitive funding awards. With a success rate of approximately 5%, the grant will support an ambitious six-year project with a total budget of approximately €10 million.
The research project, JUSTGOV, is jointly led by Prof. Weinshall; Prof. Urška Šadl of the University of Copenhagen; Prof. Lee Epstein of Washington University in St. Louis; and Prof. Daniel Naurin of the University of Oslo.
JUSTGOV seeks to transform how scholars understand the role of courts in safeguarding democracy. Rather than treating supreme courts as single, unified institutions and assessing their decisions solely by whether they favor or oppose those in power, the project places individual judges at the center of the analysis. It will examine judges as actors operating within complex social, institutional, and political environments.
The international research team will undertake an unprecedented comparative study of 48 supreme and constitutional courts in OECD countries and candidate countries, including Israel. The researchers aim to map how judges act as agents of democracy during periods of democratic stability, under threats to democratic governance, and throughout processes of institutional recovery.
At a time when democracies around the world face mounting institutional challenges, the project will offer a new comparative perspective on the choices judges make and the conditions that shape their capacity to defend democratic institutions.
“Understanding what enables democratic institutions to withstand pressure is a vital challenge for research today,” said Prof. Tamir Sheafer, President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem . “Prof. Keren Weinshall and her international partners are bringing exceptional expertise to a question that matters deeply across societies: how individual judges help sustain democracy when its institutions are tested. This ERC Synergy Grant recognizes both their scholarly ambition and the power of international collaboration to advance knowledge on questions of shared public importance. We are proud of Prof. Weinshall and the Hebrew University’s role in this important undertaking.”
ERC Synergy Grants support ambitious research projects that bring together leading investigators whose complementary expertise can address complex scientific questions. The award recognizes both the promise of the JUSTGOV collaboration and the Hebrew University’s contribution to internationally significant research on law, courts, and democracy.